Haiti has the highest maternal and neo-natal mortality rates in the Latin America and Caribbean region. Low rates of prenatal and postnatal care, and institutional births, contribute to high levels of maternal and neo-natal mortality rates. In Haiti, most women especially the poorest deliver at home with the help of a matron (traditional birth attendant). The objective of this diagnostic is to use a behavioral methodology to uncover the drivers to increase safe birth deliveries in Haiti.

This qualitative evaluation examines the LCSPP-sponsored project, ""Women and Girls in Haiti’s Reconstruction: Assessing and Preventing Gender-Based Violence"". Implemented from September 2011 to September 2012 by two non-governmental organizations, U.S.-based MADRE and Haiti-based KOFAVIV, the project used a human rights-based approach to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

This report examines the effect of gender on socio-economic outcomes in three Caribbean countries: the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica. Organized in three separate country notes, it covers: demographics, health and reproductive health, violence, education, labor and agriculture. The report is part of a large effort aimed at establishing a strategic social agenda in the region.

Haitian women have proven to be key actors in sustaining their families during conditions of economic decline and poverty. Information on the impact of poverty within the household suggests that women have carried a greater burden than men in terrns of family maintenance. In part, this is due to the loss of jobs in the formal sector which has affected men to a greater extent than women.